Iga Swiatek recorded her 40th win of the season, while Elina Svitolina survived a three-set contest against Liudmila Samsonova to reach the third round of the Wuhan Open on Wednesday. Both players remain in contention for qualification for the season-ending WTA Finals. The seventh-seeded Swiatek defeated compatriot Magdalena Frech 6-2, 6-1 in 1 hour and 43 minutes, registering her 149th career victory at WTA 1000 events. She moved past Serena Williams’ tally of 148 to claim sole possession of seventh place on the all-time list since the format’s introduction in 2009.
Iga Swiatek recorded her 40th win of the season, while Elina Svitolina survived a three-set contest against Liudmila Samsonova to reach the third round of the Wuhan Open on Wednesday.
Even when I had some bad periods, I suddenly won something and felt great. “At the beginning of the match, it was point by point, but then I was happy that I started making fewer mistakes and used my chances until the end of the match. For sure, it was tougher than the score suggested. “I’m happy that even though every year was different and presented different challenges, I’m able to be consistent. For sure, this one has been the toughest, so every win still means a lot and I’ll try to have as many as possible, obviously. This year has been a bit tougher. I think I will learn to have more grit and find the small successes, not only be happy with the results, but also with the process and everything around it. The Ukrainian had taken an early lead before Samsonova saved two match points and forced a decider. “I felt like I was playing well and then she came back in the second set, so I had to really step up my game in the third. I’m very happy with the way I stayed mentally tough and continued fighting. I think the key was a little bit of everything, finding the right shots and the right ball to attack. That was really important, along with staying focused and finding a way to win. Svitolina will face either Katie Volynets or Hanyu Guo in the third round. She currently sits sixth in the Race to the WTA Finals standings, while Swiatek is 10th, with both seeking strong finishes to strengthen their qualification prospects.
Reflecting on the lessons from her difficult campaign, she added, “Probably the biggest lesson is that nothing comes easy because, in my career, things have mostly been moving forward. Meanwhile, fifth seed Svitolina defeated Samsonova 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 after surrendering her advantage in the second set. Svitolina regrouped to seal the win and extend her head-to-head advantage over the Russian to 2-0.
“I’m happy to get the first match on Centre Court because I didn’t get a chance to play there before,” Swiatek was quoted as saying. “I mean every year has been so much different that there’s no recipe or solution,” Swiatek said. “It was a good match for me,” Svitolina said in her on-court interview.
